Most of the people working with SQL Server have some of that geek gene, the desire to control, change, and mold the environment in which they work into some new form. Some people build physical toys, and others work onvirtual tools, but there’s this desire for control for many of us.
Each version of SQL Server has brought with it a great deal more control in terms of the metrics we get (DMVs, wait stats, etc.) as well as tuning knobs (sp_configure options, Resource Governor, plan hints, and more). It has become possible to exert more influence over how SQL Server runs than ever before, and I suspect we’ll get even more ways in the future.
But is that what you want? As DBAs, do you want more control in how you work with SQL Server, and potentially a higher level of knowledge needed to tune an instance? I suspect many people would like more knobs to turn, but I wanted to ask the question this Friday:
Do you want your efforts in tuning SQL Server to have more or less options?
As a clarification, I don’t want to imply that your instance will perform at a lower level with less tuning options, but rather that Microsoft would invest more time into the automatic tuning and learning capabilities of the database engine. My thought would be that you check some configuration options at some level (instance, database, even batch), and the server then builds a more optimal execution plan, and balances the load better between all the clients. The server ends up doing most of the tuning work with a little guidance from you.
The alternative is that you do more investigation, apply more knowledge, and tweak your code or a variety of settings to improve server performance. In essence, do you want to do more work to tune an instance or have the server do most of the work?
I suspect more people want great flexibility in tuning and the ability to apply their own knowledge, but let us know this week.
Someone asked me in a webinar how to change the default backup directory. I knew, but realized that I didn’t have a reference and ended up with more explanation than needed if I’d had a post. So here it is:
If you right click on a server in Management studio and select properties, you get dialog with lots of options.
If you click on the “Database Settings” you get this:
Note that there is a default path for data files and log files, not not one for backup files.
So how do you change it? In XP or Win 7, click Start and type this right away “regedt32”
That will start the registry editor. You ought to get a UAC box to confirm access, which is fine. Do that and you’ll be in the registry. In the left pane, browse to this path:
Note that the “MSSQL.1” might be different, depending on your instance. For me it’s SSQL10.MSSQLServer.
Note that there’s a “BackupDirectory” key here. You can double click it to change the path:
I changed mine to a new path, c:\sqlbackup. Note that I had to create this folder.
That’s not enough, however. If you go into your adminstrative tools and find the Computer Management and look for Users and Groups (Select groups), you’ll find groups like this. The name varies, depending on the name of your workstation/server and instance.
Once you have this name, I’d copy it and go to your new folder. Right click, select properties, and then the security tab
As you can see, my group isn’t in here, but this group, with the SQL Server service account in it, needs permissions to this folder. So add them, with modify.
I woke up to this very cool photo from my employer.
I was checking my Twitter feed, and noticed quite a few #runwithsteve hash tags, from various people already knocking out mileage for the goal of 1,000 miles today. The tally survey is here: Running With Steve. I am looking forward to getting out there in a bit with my wife, maybe a kid if I can convince them. I hope to do five today.
It’s been quite a journey to get to 1,000 days. I was inspired in Sept 2008 and was thinking to get to one year and then see. When I got to 366, I did a Forest Gump. I kept going since it was fairly easy. I made it to two years, and then started thinking 1,000 days, and made it today. I’ll run this afternoon, when my wife has some time, and enjoy day 1,000.
The act of doing something every day has been amazing for me. It’s not so much the physical benefits, which seemed to peak after about 4-6 months, but more the mental benefits. I know I’ve accomplished something every day, and it inspires me. It becomes a habit that helps me manage the rest of my life, keeping perspective, thinking long term, and balancing out the various things in my life.
Where do I go from here? I’ll run tomorrow, day 1,001, and see what happens after that.
This past weekend I went down to Pensacola, FL for SQL Saturday #77. This was the third event in Pensacola, and my third time going down there. It was also the second time that I brought my daughter along for the trip. She had a great time the first time, and was good about spending Fri night and Saturday at the event in exchange for a couple days in Pensacola.
Me, Tim Radney, and Karla Landrum
I arrived early, on Thursday, spending all day Friday with my daughter until the speaker party on Friday night. The opening event was amazing, at Hemingway’s Island Grill, just across the causeway at Pensacola Beach, on a deck looking out over the water. With a cool evening, we couldn’t have asked for a better setting where I had the chance to sit and talk with Aaron Nelson a bit, met Wayne Sheffield for the first time, and of course, sp
ent time with Karla Landrum as well.
The coolest shirts were available for speakers, me being above, and separate shirts for the women. My daughter, and Aaron’s daughter, got shirts as well, and you can see them here. My little girl loved hers and wore is as much as she could all weekend. I don’t think speaker shirts are necessary, but they are a nice touch, and I love the creative ones I’ve gotten at this event, Cleveland, and Baton Rouge last year.
The event was held at a local college, as it has the last three years. The entrance and building moved this year, mostly because the Mac user group refused to move their meeting or give up the auditorium they have, so boo on them. In any case, there was a motorcycle class happening in one parking lot, which caused a number of people to get confused as where to go. We suspect a few people were annoyed and left, which is something to be aware of. Ask about any potential traffic situations on the day of the event that might be going on.
I arrived a bit late, and the event was quiet. Everyone was in sessions except a few speakers and vendors were learning something. With sessions spread out across two buildings, it was definitely a calmer event than I’ve seen in the past. The vendors had a nice walkway through the entrance hallway, on the way to food, and they had good traffic at lunch and as people were leaving. However I’m not sure how well this layout worked during the day as people could go from session to session without moving past tables.
I realize that sponsorship is a tricky thing to balance with not annoying attendees but also allowing vendors a chance to get value for their sponsorship. I think I’d like to see vendors in between session rooms, giving people a chance to talk by, or vendors to show off some video or demos as people walk by.
My first session was just before lunch, in the far building, and I had good attendance. With my daughter laying down in front of the room with a DVD, I delivered my talk on Branding Yourself for a Dream Job – The Modern Resume. I had about 40 or so people in there, with a mix of people looking for work, looking for new work, and just interested. I got some great comments, and people said nice things afterwards, even though it was a quiet crowd, and hard to get them to interact with me.
I had a short break before a lunchtime Red Gate demo session, which was very well attended. Again, about 40-50 people watched me demo a few tools, showing them a few ways in which Red Gate tools make life easier. Right after lunch, I had a third session in a row, my Preparation for Disaster, a look at the types of things that need to go into preparing for things to go wrong with SQL Server. It’s a basic session, and perhaps it wasn’t well described as I only had about 10 people in there. However they seemed to like the session from the comments.
After that I left for a break, my voice tired, and my daughter wanting a chance to swim a little before the after party. We arrived as the party was getting going, walking in with a few other people. It was a Rosie O’Grady’s with the old fashioned fire truck out front in Pensacola downtown. I had the chance to chat with a few more people, eat some great BBQ, and relax for a bit. With the iPad in hand, my daughter and Aaron’s little girl occupied themselves for quite awhile.
Aaron, me, and our not-so-little girls
I think I was expecting a busier event, but last year TechEd was the week after this event, and a short drive over to New Orleans, so there were quite a few more people I knew coming to speak. This year it was quieter, more restrained, but still a great event. Pensacola is a beautiful place, great beaches, and worth taking a day or two extra to relax on the gulf coast after some SQL Server learning.
My daughter is already asking if we can come back next year.
